


Don't Throw It Away

by angellwings



Category: Chicago Fire
Genre: Confessions, F/M, Idiots in Love, Mutual Pining, One Shot, Prompt Fic, Requited Love, Short One Shot, Talking, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:21:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29139207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angellwings/pseuds/angellwings
Summary: “Can we talk?”Sylvie swallows thickly and hopes she imagined Casey asking that question. It’s been hard enough trying to simply live her life in the aftermath ofeveryconversation they’ve had since the kiss. She really doesn’t want any additional difficulty.But when she looks up from her tablet he’s definitely standing beside the table, watching her expectantly.
Relationships: Sylvie Brett/Matthew Casey
Comments: 31
Kudos: 136





	Don't Throw It Away

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N:** This is it! This is the last prompt in my askbox! The prompt: “Don’t let go.” + “Do you trust me?” Now it’s back to the golden age after this. Hope you all like it! 
> 
> Happy reading!
> 
> xoxo

_******_

_“Cause I know you think you're better off without me now,_

_Sayin' all you need is space but, baby, we can work this out._

_But don't throw it away this time,_

_Just take a little time to think._

_Don't throw it away, it's fine,_

_Just don't forget to think of me.”_

_-“Don’t Throw It Away” by Jonas Brothers_

******

“Can we talk?”

Sylvie swallows thickly and hopes she imagined Casey asking that question. It’s been hard enough trying to simply live her life in the aftermath of _every_ conversation they’ve had since the kiss. She really doesn’t want any additional difficulty.

But when she looks up from her tablet he’s definitely standing beside the table, watching her expectantly.

“Casey…”

He sighs as whatever reply she was going to say trails off. She doesn’t want to say yes but she can’t seem to say no either.

“Please?” He asks, his blue eyes finding hers.

His eyes are earnest and beseeching and the sliver of hope in her ability to say no dissolves at the sight of them. She nods stiffly, closes the case on her tablet, motioning for him to lead the way as she stands.

To her surprise he doesn’t lead her to his quarters. He leads her into the briefing room, shutting the blinds and locking both doors.

“I know you think I can’t move on from Gabby,” he says softly, stopping several feet in front of her and shoving his hands in his pants pockets. “But you’re wrong.”

“We’ve talked about this, Casey—“

“I hate when you call me Casey _like that_. Or _Captain_. It’s so...cold and distant. That’s not us. Hasn’t been in a long time.”

“I’m sorry,” she says tiredly. “I have to. I have to put distance between us or I’ll never be able to let you go.”

“Then don’t.”

“Don’t?” She asks in confusion.

“Don’t let go,” he insists. “Of us. _Of me_. Do you...do you know how I know you're wrong about my not being able to move on from Gabby?”

“Please, I don’t want to talk about this, Casey,” she says, tears building in her eyes.

“We have to,” he says, taking a few steps closer to her. “The distance and the space...it’s not helping. Either of us. We _have_ to talk about this. It will eat us up inside if we don’t. Hell, it already is.”

There’s a moment of silence before he huffs in frustration.

“Ask me how I know, Sylvie. Ask me how I know I’ve moved on from Gabby,” he repeats.

“I can’t.” She truly can’t. 

She doesn’t want to know the answer. If it has to do with _Sydney_ she won’t be able to hide her tears. He’s been on a handful of dates with the woman and with each one Sylvie is more and more convinced that he could never feel for her what she feels for him. It’s the only reason she even dared to try with Greg.

“Do you trust me?” He asks, eating up the last of the space between them.

Despite everything, all the cracks and breaks in her heart, there will always be only one answer to that question.

“Yes.”

“Then _ask me_.”

She looks away from him and down at her shoes. She’ll ask, but she won’t look at him while she says the words. Not this time. Last time the conflicting emotions on his face haunted her for hours after he left. She will not inflict that on herself again.

“How do you know you’ve moved on from Gabby?” She asks, sounding less than enthusiastic about the question.

“Because _you’re_ the one I can’t move on from.”

That gets her attention. Her head lifts in an instant to bring her eyes back to his. She’s desperately trying to put out the embers of hope in her chest. The last thing she needs is to have them sparked back to life.

“I’m sorry?” She asks in confusion. She must have heard him wrong.

“You are the person who I can’t stop thinking about. You are the _only_ person I want to be with even when I’m out with someone else. I have moved on from Gabby. I moved on from Gabby a long time ago. _You’re_ the one I can’t let go of — the person I don’t _want_ to let go of,” he says. 

Each word was said with such passion that it stokes the flame she could never fully put out. She’s been trying to suffocate it all this time, but it’s been a futile effort. It’s still there, still burning.

“If we give up now, I can’t help but feel like we’ll be throwing away something that has the potential to be everything you and I have ever wanted,” Matt tells her as she reaches for her hands. He laces their fingers together and releases an anxious breath, his shoulders dropping as he exhales. “Don’t throw it away. Let me try. _Please_ , let me try.”

“But what about Sydney?” She asks, barely biting back the ‘oh god, yes’ that’s on the tip of her tongue.

“What about her?” He asks, releasing one of her hands to bring his hand to her face. He cups her cheek and tenderly traces a thumb across the apple of her cheek. “We went on two dates and I spent both of them thinking about you.” 

The brightness in his eyes is briefly clouded over with embarrassment as he blushes and grins. He squints one eye and winces. The sheepish expression it leaves behind is much too adorable.

“I _might_ have called her Sylvie once.”

She should feel badly about that, shouldn’t she? Guilty that Sydney had to suffer because of her, maybe? But she doesn’t. In fact, that little anecdote forces a smile to break across her face. She would have rather kept it in, but he doesn’t give her much choice.

“You didn’t,” she says, biting her bottom lip to keep from chuckling at him.

“Oh, I definitely did,” he replies, laughing at himself with a contrite grimace. “It was awkward.”

“If it helps,” she says, inhaling deeply in an attempt at seeking strength. “I may not have called Greg by your name but I definitely spent the majority of the time we were together comparing him to you.”

“Spent?” He asks. “You and he aren’t...I mean you’re not still--”

“No,” she answers swiftly, cutting off his question. “It felt too underhanded to keep seeing him and wishing he were you. I couldn’t do it.”

At those words, he releases her other hand to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her close to him. His hand spans over her cheek and jaw, his forehead is pressed to hers, and they’re standing chest to chest with his arm circling her waist. He’s a breath away from kissing her and, even after the last several weeks, she’s ready and willing. She’s been dying to kiss him again from the very minute she asked him to leave.

“Please let me take you to breakfast after shift,” he requests, throat bobbing as he gulps anxiously. “I have so much I want to say to you and as much as I want to say it here…”

She nods against his forehead. “I know. We’re working.” Her hands land on his shoulders and then drift up his neck until her fingers can slip into the hair at the nape of his neck. 

His eyes close at her touch and a noise leaves his throat. It’s deeper than a sigh but quieter than a moan.

“Yes,” she says, finally answering him. “Yes, _Matt_ , you can take me to breakfast after shift.”

His eyes open again as soon as she uses his first name and he flashes her a blinding teeth revealing smile. It’s something so rare and yet completely perfect. Especially on him. His arms tighten around her waist and he ducks his head, diving in to kiss her.

His lips ghost over hers but before he can fully swoop in…

The bells go off.

He groans pathetically, dropping his head to her shoulder. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

Despite her own disappointment she laughs loudly, stepping out of his arms. “Don’t worry,” she tells him, running a soft touch through his hair. “I’ll make it up to you later.”

His brows lift as they both begin to march toward the briefing room door. “Later?”

She nods with a sultry smile. “At my place after breakfast.”

His eyes are bright but his mouth drops open in pleasant surprise. She takes the opportunity to sprint off ahead of him.

“Remind me,” he calls after her. “How many more hours are left in this shift?”

All she can do is laugh in response. The day took an unexpected turn, to say the least, but she’s ready for it. She’s ready to try. Because Matt’s right, if they give up now they’ll never know and what they have _feels_ special. It could be everything she’s ever wanted. 

They’ll never know if they don’t try and the time has finally come _to try_.


End file.
